UPLANDS

Richardson Bay Audubon Center & Sanctuary manages 11 acres of uplands directly adjacent to the Bay. It is a varied terrain that is home to a number of representative coastal habitats including: beach, bluffs, grasslands, oak woodland, coastal scrub and riparian.

Currently we are working with a habitat restoration plan to remove non-native vegetation and replace it with native plants. This is a long-term project that will likely take many years to implement using mostly volunteer assistance.

We also operate a MAPS (Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship) bird-banding station on the Center grounds in order to monitor the breeding bird populations. Banding

HABITAT RESTORATION [top]

Following recommendations from a 2006 Weed Management Plan written for our Center, much of the work to date has been focused on managing the many invasive plant species found on site. Our goal was to halt the spread and push back the invasives to minimal levels in preparation for reintroduction of native plants. We have been particularly successful holding back French Broom on the preserve in accessible areas, but with many long-lived seeds already in the ground it will require many years of maintenance to keep it from re-spreading. Almost all invasive plant management has been accomplished by volunteers who have contributed many hours of labor since 2006!

Youth volunteers pulling radish (K. Wilcox).

AmeriCorps workers cutting invasive Cotoneaster

AmeriCorps worker cutting invasive plum tree

AmeriCorps worker planting native grass

Native plant nursery

[Bee Plant (Scrophularia californica)
and California Blackberry (Rubus ursinus) in the nursery.

California Oniongrass (Melica californica) planted
in area cleared of non-native Blackwood Acacia.

We hope that as a result of this restoration work, we not only increase native habitat for wildlife on the Center grounds, but we also provide inspiration and example to anyone who is interested in working to increase the number of native plants in the local landscape.

If you are interested in volunteering to help with our restoration work, please contact Kerry at 415-388-2524 x101 or .

NATIVE GARDEN AREAS [top]

A number of cultivated areas on the Center grounds have begun to be renewed within the last couple of years. Non-native weeds and plants from earlier gardens are being removed, and are being replaced by native plants examples. Most notably, the Hummingbird Garden near the Lyford House has been improved with more native flowers and shrubs, and the garden along Greenwood Beach road has been reclaimed for coastal scrub plants, including sage, ceanothus and buckwheat. Much of this work was spearheaded by long-time Audubon volunteer Alison Pence.

CLICK HERE TO SEE NATIVE PLANTS OF RICHARDSON BAY AUDUBON CENTER

Hummingbird garden with a view of Lyford House and Richardson Bay (K.Wilcox).

MAPS BIRD BANDING [top]

MAPS (Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship) is a nationwide project developed by the Institute for Bird Populations (IBP) in Point Reyes Station, CA. The Institute for Bird Population collects demographic data on bird populations at over 500 bird banding stations throughout North America to track changes in landbird populations that breed in the United States, Canada and northern Mexico. In combination with data collected by the Breeding Bird Surveys and Christmas Bird Counts, MAPS can provide crucial information on the health of avian communities and the habitats they need to survive.

Richardson Bay operated a MAPS banding station from 2007 - 2010. We captured more than 20 different species. List of species captured during the MAPS 2007 & 2008 seasons: Cooper's Hawk Anna's Hummingbird* Selasphorus (Allen's or Rufous) hummingbird Black Phoebe Pacific-slope Flycatcher Hutton's Vireo Western Scrub-jay* Chestnut-backed Chickadee* Oak Titmouse Bushtit* Bewick's Wren* Swainson's Thrush Northern Mockingbird* Wilson's Warbler Spotted Towhee* California Towhee* Dark-eyed Junco Song Sparrow Black-headed Grosbeak House Finch American Goldfinch Other species regularly seen on site during MAPS banding, but not captured:

Red-tailed Hawk Mourning Dove American Crow* Common Raven Barn Swallow Cliff Swallow (*On-site breeder)

Measuring the wing of a Wilson's Warbler (K Wilcox)

WINTER BANDING [top]
Dozens of species make their way to the Bay Area during the winter months to take advantage of the more temperate climate here. The Richardson Bay Audubon Center is no exception as White-crowned, Golden-crowned, and Fox Sparrows as well as Hermit Thrushes, American Robins and Cedar Waxwings all arrive to take advantage of seeds and winter fruit. In order to better understand how bird populations are using the sanctuary uplands during the non-breeding season, we set up a winter banding program to determine what species occur here during the winter and if they return in subsequent years. Large numbers of Zonotrichia sparrows (White-crowned and Golden-crowned) made up the bulk of new captures during the winter, but we also caught a good number of Fox Sparrows, Hermit Thrushes and Yellow-rumped Warblers. Frequently, birds are recaptured throughout the winter season, but most exciting is recapturing birds that had been banded in a prior year! We have recorded multiple individual Golden-crowned and Fox Sparrows that have made it back to the Audubon Center after spending the summer elsewhere.

List of species captured during winter banding operations:

Golden-crowned Sparrow (N. Schlager).

Other commonly observed upland species during winter:

Nuttall's Woodpecker
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing