Helping Birds During Spring Migration, 7 Simple Tips
I love to see the energy of our songbirds after spring rains, they seem so frisky and excited to stretch their wings, slough off their frowsy winter wardrobe for more colorful plumage, and migrate to faraway breeding places.
This time of year, more than a BILLION birds will travel accross our state - a key spot for them along the Pacific Flyway. Look along our local beaches from April and May and you may see all sorts of shorebirds refueling as they migrate north to Arctic breeding grounds or return to wintering grounds as far south as Australia! Check out Becky Bowen's Mendocino County Audobon Society's Black Oyster Catcher Newsletter Article this month to learn simple beach etiquette like walking on pounded sand in the spring to protect resident shorebirds who camouflage their nests on the surface of dry sand.
Alarmingly, we have lost one in four birds since the1970's. More than 90% of these losses are of common birds like sparrows, blackbirds and finches. Yes, the environmental crisis facing our birds is complex. But, the solution is simple: action.
Check out our tips below or check out your local Audubon Society in Marin, Lake, Sonoma, Mendocino Coast, or Interior of Mendocino
Take care of yourselves, each other, and our wildlife.
- Oona Heacock, Executive Director
Tips: 7 ways to help our birds during spring migration
- Grow native plants - Click HERE for bird-friendly native plants for your area
- Avoid pesticides - Click HERE for alternatives to pesticides
- Consider keeping your cat indoors - Click HERE for a live bird cam for them!
- Make your windows more visible - Click HERE for ways to fix your windows
- Turn off lights - Click HERE for more information about helping night migrators
- Keep your bird feeders clean - Click HERE for three easy ways to keep it clean
- Support our work planting wildlife habitat - Click HERE to find out how
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Introducing our Newest Staff Member: Marianna Zavala
Marianna comes to us with experience from serving as the Agriculture Project Coordinator at the California Association of Resource Conservation Districts. Marianna is the daughter of a Mexican American father and of an Italian-American mother, and her multicultural heritage has helped shape her career pathway. She spent much of her time with her father as he worked as a mechanic for Napa wineries and enjoyed her explorations of her maternal grandparents place in Napa’s Wooden Valley. The unique terrain of Wooden Valley —a small valley formed by volcanic activity providing a unique terroir for successful vineyards—captured her passion about the intersection of agriculture and racial justice.
Her desire to learn how change can be formed by aspirations for equity and racial justice in California’s modern agricultural systems led Marianna to earn a B.S. in agricultural communications from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and later explore regenerative agriculture. In her own words, Mariana writes: “...the more I learn about regenerative ranching and good land stewardship where soil health, nutrient cycling, plant diversity, and animal welfare are the pillars of the practice, the more I am struck by the opportunity regenerative agriculture has to recognize, rebuild, and empower communities. I believe that to move forward with a regenerative vision, we must open doors and elevate the voices of those around us, including the peoples who have been stewards of this land long before any plow set its blade into the earth and acknowledging that we have much to learn. ”
Mariana will be working in our underserved farmer programs to help build economic and land management sustainability practices for BIPOC small ranchers and farmers, including urban farmers. You may contact Mariana by email at marianna@ncrcanddc.org or phone at 707-978-4149.
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 We're excited to announce a free new hybrid in-person and online workshop series for farmers on the North Coast (Sonoma, Marin, Mendocino, and Lake Counties), with a special focus on small and beginning farmers and ranchers. This series will take place this summer, and feature a variety of speakers, subjects, and additional learning opportunities.
We want to hear from you! Please take just a couple minutes to complete this short survey, helping us design this series to meet the needs, interests, and circumstances of local farmers.
About the Cultivating Commerce Program
Through funding from CDFA’s California Underserved and Small Producers Grant, Conservation Works expanded its Cultivating Commerce program. Our Cultivating Commerce program provides services to small and medium-sized farmers and ranchers (including urban farmers). To the extent we have funding, we provide free services to support planning, marketing, and outreach on value added activities for sustainable agriculture, and this project increases our capacity. Our project will supplement our Cultivating Commerce website, which provides information that is both directly educational and referral links to additional information sources, potential funding opportunities, and similar support.
About CDFA’s CUSP Grant
The California Underserved and Small Producers (CUSP) Grant is designed to facilitate technical assistance to individual small-scale, mid-scale and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers who need assistance with applying for economic relief grant programs and assistance with business planning and marketing strategies in response to COVID-19.
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Join us on Saturday May 7th for our Third Annual Hike for Habitat along the Sonoma Coast!
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We are continuing with our wonderful Hike for Habitat in-person spring event and virtual fundraiser. Our Third Annual Hike for Habitat will be both in person as well as online for people like YOU to support our work in habitat restoration and other resource protection! This year, we will be hiking along the coast from the Shell Beach trailhead–exploring on the Kortum Trail, Pomo Trail, and the beach itself. The hike is estimated to be about an hour to an hour-and-a-half, and will start at 9:00 on Saturday May 7th. Anyone is welcome to join us for the walk, or meet then strike off at a faster pace–or even run/jog–and everyone can proceed at their own pace. Being outdoors celebrating together is the key!
 Come join this guided hike to view wildflowers and learn about habitats. Click HERE for more details and directions. Click HERE to purchase Theresa Wistrom beautiful Sonoma County Wildflowers guide or bring $20 on May 7th and pick up one to take on the hike! Theresa will be guiding us along the Kortum trail to identify wildflowers. Her book lists the most common and showy wildflowers - some we will probably see on our hike!
We believe that when we all decide to do just a little bit more, those small collective actions add up to a world of difference. We Plant, We Collect, We Protect, We Conserve, We Regenerate, We Educate.
Donating to us can amplify local actions that make a global impact. Visit our Donately fundraising page and help us meet our $20,000 goal!
 Thank you to our Recology Sonoma Marin for sponsoring this event and helping us make a real difference in pollinator protection, water conservation, addressing climate change, and building healthy sustainable communities in our rural north coast.
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Join us on Social Media for a 10 part Series on Native Grasslands
Come join the Social Media for Native Grasslands Friday! For 10 weeks, we are sharing some basics about grasslands, the plants and creatures who live in them, the role of fire, and how grasslands can sequester carbon. We are building our grasslands awareness outreach one small bite at a time!
Conservation Works Instagram
Conservation Works Facebook
Conservation Works appreciates the Sonoma County Vintners Foundation and the Strong Foundation for Environmental Values for helping us restore native grasslands and making this series possible |
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Join our Climate Circles Book Club
Are you hungry for a deeper dialogue about the climate crisis and building a community around solutions? We are too. That’s why we are partnering with Climate Circles, Envirichment, and the Sonoma County Library to launch a Climate Circles Book Club.
Come learn how to address the climate crisis with us by joining our NEW Climate Circles Book Club. Meetings are on the third Wednesday of the month from 6 to 7 pm. Join us this Wednesday, February 16th to discuss climate change along with the book All We Can Save. Check out the book from your local library! Learn more by clicking here or the button below.
YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE READ THE BOOK TO ATTEND THE BOOK CLUB.
To register, go to the Sonoma County library or register for each event through the links below.
- February 16 – All We Can Save, Introduction pages xvii-xxiv – Register
- March 16 – All We Can Save, Root pages 3-49 – Register
- April 20 – All We Can Save, Advocate pages 51-104 – Register
- May 18 – All We Can Save, Reframe pages 105-146 – Register
- June 15 – All We Can Save, Reshape pages 147-186 – Register
- July 20 – All We Can Save, Persist pages 187-230 – Register
- August 17 – All We Can Save, Feel pages 231-286 – Register
- September 21 – All We Can Save, Nourish pages 287-321 – Register
- October 19 – All We Can Save, Rise pages 323-370 – Register
- November 16 – All We Can Save, Onward pages 371-421 – Register
All We Can Save book is full of heart and reminds us to embrace “… a future that holds us, all of us. This is the work of our lifetimes”. This book club will be a place to talk about and listen to each other’s hopes, worries, ideas and actions.
This week's circle session is about ADVOCATING for Climate Action.
Please feel free to come to all or one of the events. For any questions please contact oona@conservationworksnc.org
We hope to see you there.
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Run out of Coffee? Keep the Buzz Going with a Monthly Coffee Subscription to Bee Bold
Conservation Works is a Pollinator Partner with Thanksgiving Coffee Company. Purchase of their Bee Bold product line helps support our work as a Pollinator Protector. When you purchase Bee Bold Coffee online, we receive 20% of your purchase price to help fund our conservation programs.
Happy sipping!
  
Thank you Thanksgiving Coffee for all your support of our work restoring habitat for struggling polliantors
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