Year: 2014

Summer Butterflies: If you have not already discovered it, we encourage you to check out one of our web site’s many slide shows of photographs of Butterflies seen on More Mesa. Furthermore, there is a downloadable pdf Guide.  And, happily, at this time of year you can see more and more of these local beauties in the open. For example, when you visit More Mesa you are likely to see Anise Swallowtails: butterflies that lay their eggs on our ubiquitous fennel. And a second species regularly observed, flying low and sitting on bare ground, all over More Mesa, is the Common Buckeye.

AmazonSmile: On another note, a financial one at that, we are pleased to announce the More Mesa Preservation Coalition has been registered to receive 0.5% of the purchase price of all eligible products selected by Amazon customers.  This program conceived by Amazon, and known as AmazonSmile, can be accessed by entering Amazon at a slightly different web address. This web address can also be found at the lower right side of our Monthly News (this) page, below the Sitemap button. Shopping with AmazonSmile is identical to shopping with Amazon in the conventional way, with a very few products being exempted from the program.

We urge all of you who love More Mesa and want to help, to bookmark this new page and use it instead of the Amazon URL you are currently using. Thanks so much!

Bobcats On More Mesa
Some of you may have seen the marvelous photos of Bobcats taken recently on the Douglas Preserve.  And, we are most pleased to report both evidence and a sighting a Bobcat on More Mesa as well; scat was reported on the west side and an animal was seen near Atascadero Creek on the east side.

Although sightings are relatively rare, we have had several Bobcat visitors in the past, and even multiple reports of a breeding pair with young.  Thus far, we have no images for the 2014 reports.  However, we can share an earlier photo of a bobcat on More Mesa in June of 2008.

Spring Has finally Sprung: The “Ghost of Spring” we have been experiencing as a result of the current drought is gone. It has been replaced by a solid body of delightful vistas and colorful flowers. The very short grasses are now two or three times taller and the brownish appearance of the whole Mesa has changed into vibrant greens. And, most unexpectedly, there are many very large fields of Blue-eyed Grass: prominently displayed, and in close proximity to major trails. There are even Redmaids, a native we rarely find! In spite of virtually no rain More Mesa is still putting on a spring show!

How Did the More Mesa Symposium Turn Out?
The second More Mesa Symposium was held at Bren Hall of UCSB on Saturday, March 15th. All the feedback we have received has been overwhelmingly positive and the day seemed to be very appreciated by all. The event also had a nice write-up by Ray Ford in the Independent. See About More Mesa: Symposium Focuses on Area’s Preservation and Development Attempts

All sixty people who attended heard a variety of papers by a team of experienced environmentalists including: Wayne Ferren on ecology, John Storrer on raptors, and Dan Gira on the potential for development of More Mesa. Displays told several other More Mesa stories and our speaker panel discussion gave the community an opportunity to ask questions of this prestigious group of More Mesa experts.

The afternoon walk, lead by Wayne Ferren, and enjoyed by many of the attendees, lasted almost three hours. Wayne discussed how the geology and soils of More Mesa determine the habitats and plants, which in turn, lead to the abundance of raptors and animals that occur on More Mesa. Papers, panel discussion and the afternoon walk were all videotaped.

MMPC is currently exploring various ways to provide the proceedings to those who could not attend, as well as for those who would like to review the material presented. Look for news of the videotape in upcoming e-Updates, and on the Monthly News posted on this website. Also look for reporting, and more images of the Symposium in the “Events” section of this web site.

New Guides on MMPC’s Web Site
Guides to the birds, insects and plants of More Mesa have been created and hosted on this web site. And, since the site is mobile friendly, these guides are especially useful when citizen scientists and other visitors to More Mesa are in the field. Guides are located under the menu items “Birds“, “Insects” and “Plants”.

Came The Rains … More Mesa on Sunday afternoon after three days of welcome rain.

A lone native coastal poppy plant offers up two flowers.

Fungi has enough moisture to make an appearance.

Dogs make sport in a large pond at the coast.