Welcome to Sweet Springs

by Holly Sletteland

Since this is my debut into writing for the SLO Coast Journal, a few words of introduction are probably in order.  I manage the nature preserves for Morro Coast Audubon Society, including Sweet Springs and the Audubon Overlook in Los Osos.   I imagine that I already know many of you, as one of the nice aspects of working out there is I get to meet a lot of people who come for a stroll or to say hello to the ducks or just sit and look out at the bay.   I also get to meet a lot of wonderful volunteers who come out to lend nature a helping hand.

We had a very successful restoration party last month and I definitely want to thank everyone that participated.  We tackled a number of different projects and managed to accomplish an enormous amount in a very short time, from digging huge clumps of veldt grass from the edge of the preserve on Broderson, to raking the trails free of debris deposited by the winter storms, to spreading a new layer of mulch by the kiosk, to replacing the rotten trail border logs with fresh ones, to weeding the recently restored areas southeast of the ponds – Whew!  It's tiring just writing about it.  I'm kidding, of course.  One of the nice things about working on restoration projects as a group is the time just seems to fly by and things get done faster than you ever imagined they would.  Or maybe I can say that because I wasn't wrestling hefty eucalyptus branches into place on the trail.  That's certainly a little tougher than pulling up wild geraniums.

The preserve is looking more like spring every day.  The Morro Manzanita (Arctostaphylos morroensis) is in full bloom, and the California lilac (Ceanothus cuneatus)  is veiled in delicate light blue blossoms that hum with bees. There are even a few scattered blooms of the California poppy (Eschscholzia californica), one of the most prolific of our spring flowers.   Most people think of February as part of winter, and that is certainly understandable in parts of the country that are buried in snow.  But I tend to go along with John Muir who wrote that in California "February and March is the ripe spring time of the plain, April the summer, and May the autumn."  Our flowers wither with the passing of the rains.  Although there are some reliable late bloomers, particularly along the coast, most of our plants enter a long period of dormancy to survive the long drought of summer, fall, and early winter.

The only hint that it is still winter are the birds.  The estuary is alive with the calls of migrating waterfowl—geese, ducks, wigeons, loons, grebes—and many, of course, are with us year round, albeit in lesser numbers.  But others only grace our waters for the winter months, like the very talkative brant geese. You know the snows have melted elsewhere when you no longer hear their lively chatter. 

We have another restoration day planned for February 12th, from 9am until noon.  We'll be meeting at the kiosk, just off Ramona Avenue.   I'm hoping that everyone brings their Valentine to volunteer with them.  We'll be focusing on the area just to the west of the kiosk that was planted in the winter of 2008.  This area is becoming really nicely established, with some of the shrubs exhibiting especially vigorous growth.  As they expand further, they will make the ground increasingly inhospitable to invasive weeds with their shade and leaf litter.   Our previous efforts removing invasives in this area are also paying dividends in that their seed banks are gradually being depleted.  Nonetheless, we're not home free yet, so we still need to be vigilant about removing the non-natives.  There are still plenty of bromes, burclover, geranium, and mustard to contend with, as well as a few clumps of veldt grass.  It should be an easy day as all of the weeds are small and pop right out of our sandy soil.  I hope you'll join us!

Western Pond Turtle image on banner by Dave Johnson